Men's Cross Country Returns to NCAA Championships
After claiming their 18th consecutive South Atlantic Conference title as well as the Southeast Regional title, the Mars Hill men’s cross country team turns its sights on the NCAA Championship meet.
MARS HILL, N.C. - After claiming their 18th consecutive South Atlantic Conference title as well as the Southeast Regional title, the Mars Hill men's cross country team turns its sights on the NCAA Championship meet as part of the NCAA Division II Fall Festival in Louisville, Ky. on Saturday. The men enter the NCAA Championship meet as the No. 21 team in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) national poll.
Junior Alex Griggs, sophomore Nathan Jones and senior Derek Gibson were named to the USTFCCCA All-Southeast Region team last week. All three runners finished in the top 15 at the regional meet on November 22 and were All-SAC First Team honorees along with junior Cesar Reyes. Head coach Mike Owens earned regional Coach of the Year honors for the sixth time.
Mars Hill returns to the NCAA meet for the first time since 2010, where the finished in 24th place. That meet was also held at E.P. "Tom" Sawyer Park in Louisville. Saturday's meet starts at 11 a.m. with live results available here.
The top three teams of seven student-athletes from each region automatically qualified. Additional berths were awarded to regions based on the first eight team finishers at the 2013 championships. The top three individual finishers from each region who are not part of a qualifying team automatically qualified for the championships. In addition, all individual competitors who finish in the top five overall places in their respective regional meet and are not a member of a qualifying team automatically advance to the championships.
Men's Qualifying Teams (School, Region)
Adams State, South Central
Alaska Anchorage, West
American International, East
Ashland, Midwest
Augustana (South Dakota), Central
California Baptist, West
Cal Poly Pomona, West
Chico State, West
Colorado-Colorado Springs, South Central
Colorado Mesa, South Central
Colorado School of Mines, South Central
Edinboro, Atlantic
Florida Southern, South
Grand Valley State, Midwest
Lock Haven, Atlantic
Malone, Midwest
Mars Hill, Southeast
Minnesota State Moorhead, Central
Missouri Southern State, Central
Mount Olive, Southeast
Queens (North Carolina), Southeast
Roberts Wesleyan, East
Saint Leo, South
Shippensburg, Atlantic
Simon Fraser, West
Sioux Falls, Central
Southern Indiana, Midwest
Stonehill, East
West Alabama, South
West Texas A&M, South Central
Western State, South Central
Western Washington, West
Men's Individual Qualifiers
Atlantic Region
Aaron Dinzeo, California (Pennsylvania)
Raymond Ofman, Indiana (Pennsylvania)
Abel Robinault, California (Pennsylvania)
Central Region
Austin Bogina, Pittsburg State
Wick Cunningham, Northwest Missouri State
Juan Pacheco, East Central
East Region
Anthony Fierimonte, Assumption
Nicholas Filipazzo, Adelphi
Michael Scott, LIU Post
Midwest Region
Joshua Mirth, Hillsdale
Sean Pengelly, Michigan Tech
Evan Lewandowski, Wisconsin-Parkside
South Region
Dessie Demlew, Benedict
Justin Mcmaster, Florida Tech
Jesse Prince, Valdosta State
South Central Region
Alec Baldwin, Black Hills State
Thomas Toth, Cameron
Christian Gering, Fort Lewis
Southeast Region
Job Kemboi, Clayton State
Corey Mundy, Flagler
Ahmad Nesbitt, North Greenville
West Region
Valentin Pepiot, Academy of Art
Robert Peterson, Montana State Billings
Tanner Collins, UC San Diego